The first U.K. public institutional solo exhibition of Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara has become one of the major cultural attractions in London since its opening in June. To industry professionals such as art advisors and those in the trade, this retrospective at Hayward Gallery is a must-see, as Nara is one of the world’s top-selling living artists from Asia. Art world celebs such as fellow Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and collector RM of BTS were also spotted at the gallery.
But more importantly, Nara’s iconic wide-eyed, child-like characters with an attitude resonate with a much wider audience well beyond the usual art crowd. Over the years, the artist has amassed a huge following around the world who adore the aesthetics and appreciate the immediacy of the messages embedded in his work, whether they are inspired by his childhood memories or responses to natural disasters and political injustice. “I think a lot about the nature, people, and the world around us,” the artist told the media during the preview. And these topics are what many people care about.
The blockbuster show features more than 150 works, ranging from paintings and drawings to sculptures and installations spanning four decades of the artist’s oeuvre, an expansion of its previous iteration at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden.
Hayward Gallery declined to reveal information about the sales of tickets and merchandise. “We are pleased with the response to the exhibition and its popularity speaks to the universal appeal of Nara’s work. People connect with his works emotionally—whether they are Gen Zs that may have first encountered his work through social media, or older members of the public who may have watched his rise over the past four decades,” Yung Ma, Hayward Gallery’s senior curator, noted in an email.
Below are five key works to understanding this highly anticipated London exhibition, which runs through August 31.
(2017)
Yoshitomo Nara, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (2017). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Featured in the spacious gallery on the upper level, which Nara described as “the chapel,” a space that invites visitors to quietly contemplate the works before them, this large-scale painting is among a handful of works that cannot be photographed. On loan from a private collection, this painting graced the cover of the artist’s 2020 eponymous monograph and was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Yuz Museum in Shanghai, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Last year, the work made its auction debut and became one of the top lots at a Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale after it sold for $12.3 million, including fees.
Art market headlines aside, this is truly a mesmerizing painting, and no photo can ever do it justice. Looking at it up close, I felt I could see an entire universe in this character’s starry eyes. Rather than seeing these paintings of his iconic characters as self-portraits, “I see them as self-reflections,” said the 65-year-old. “There are many reflections of my inner self. They can be good, they can be bad. I hope viewers can see themselves in these works too.”
(2008)
Installation view of Yoshitomo Nara. Photo by Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.
Upon entering the exhibition, one is immediately drawn to this cute little hut that looks as if it came straight out of an anime. This installation is a reimagined studio space of Nara. In this playhouse-like safe space, one can find his drawings, vintage toys, and other items collected by the artist, who enjoyed his freedom during his childhood despite being alone. Even though the artist is not there, the lights are still on and one can still hear the music being played. Visitors aren’t allowed to enter this little house, but they can catch a glimpse of Nara’s inner world through the windows. One should allow themselves enough time to take a good look at this meticulous creation, the first of more house installations to come.
“While [my life] may have objectively looked like loneliness, I was very happy with all of my surroundings—I will always really appreciate this environment because it’s original to me,” Nara said in an earlier interview with Artnet News.
Nara’s Record Sleeves
A staff member looks at a selection of record sleeves from Yoshitomo Nara’s personal collection that he finds particularly inspiring. Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images.
When Nara was nine years old, he accidentally picked up the transmissions coming from the Far East Network of Armed Forces Radio from a U.S. Air Force base in Misawa in Japan’s Aomori prefecture, where Nara grew up. He initially did not understand the language spoken on these broadcasts, but it did not stop him from appreciating the music. Since then, music has played an irreplaceable role in Nara’s life and his artistic creations. He also served as a radio show host at Shibuya Radio in 2016 for three years. When Nara held his first international retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2021, he created a walled installation with the vinyl record sleeves from his personal collection. Luckily, Nara brings this installation to the London show, offering fans a glimpse of some of the deepest cultural influences on the artist.
Drawings
Yoshitomo Nara, Untitled (1997). Courtesy of the artist and Hayward Gallery.
The large-scale polished paintings are certainly the main attraction of the show, but it is Nara’s drawings that take the audience on a journey through his inner world, the evolution of his artistic practice, and his take on the world around him. The beauty of this exhibition is that it features a large number of Nara’s drawings executed over the past decades, some even dating back to the early 1990s. Some of his drawings on envelopes or found materials appear to be conceived in an ad hoc manner. Some, such as the one featured above, reflect a moment of angst that many of us have experienced growing up. These drawings are scattered across the exhibition, but do pay attention to a series of small, amusing drawings hung on the wall of the corridor of the upper gallery. You can certainly see yourself in one of them.
(2023)
A staff member looks at (2023) by Yoshitomo Nara. Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images.
Sculptures play an increasingly important role in Nara’s oeuvre. Art historian Yeewan Koon, who curated the artist’s sculpture-themed exhibition “My Imperfect Self” that opened at Blum Los Angeles at the beginning of the year, noted that the artist took up sculpture in response to the trauma of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit his home turf on March 11, 2011—the worst earthquake recorded in Japan’s history. “What he really wanted to do was to leave his physical presence onto the clay itself, a way to make permanence feel more solid,” Koon said earlier, ahead of the opening of the exhibition. She also observed that Nara’s approach to sculpture has evolved over time, from “wrestling” with the clay to “nurturing” the earthy material from 2016 onwards.
Conceived in 2023, the large-scale depicts a “forest child” with her eyes closed, looking calm and serene despite being surrounded by the crowd and chaos. A herd of small dogs congregates on the flat surface of Miss Forest’s head, forming a crown for this character that appears to be at one with nature. She might be alone, but she is definitely not lonely.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
